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Saturday, April 29, 2017

Touched by Nature

"Seek the resonance that enters a poem

only when it is touched by the stillness of nature."

-Margarita Engle

On the days before my daughter's baby shower, I spent time in my gardens with Matt, my landscaper from Rockville Lawn. Our mission was to beautify the exterior of the home. Like in the past, chocolate mulch was added to the beds to provide a beautiful landscape for the plantings that awakened just in time for tomorrow's event at my home. Now, my gardens can have a taste of chocolate along with the rest of my guests to celebrate springtime and the birth of a new addition to our family.

verdant green gardens

filled with nature's bounty-

seasonal decor

showcased in chocolate

festively dressed for spring

spring emissaries

popping up through chocolate

sprouting, standing tall

showcasing seasonal joy-

a springsation to welcome

I always seem to slip into the challenge at the tail end but preparing for the shower has left me little time to unwind and write. These two poems are offered to Michelle H. Barnes' ditty challenge at Today's Little Ditty. My poetry flows from Michelle's interview with Margarita Engle whom I had the privilege of listening to at NCTE 16. Margarita's challenge was to write a tanka, a poetic form that suits me well since I am starting a spring gallery collection of poetic blossoms at #Springsations.

My ditty challenge is: Write a tanka poem. Think of it as a travel diary, even if you are only moving around in your own garden. You are free to choose any subject. Your poem is only five lines. The traditional tanka syllable count is 5-7-5-7-7, but since Japanese syllables are shorter, in English the poem could be awkwardly long. You don’t have to count syllables, but stick to the basic line pattern of short, long, short, long, long. Keep the total number of syllables for each poem under 30, or even better, keep it under 26. Less is more. Shorter is more powerful. Don’t try to be detailed. Seek the resonance that enters a poem only when it is touched by the stillness of nature.

I traveled around my garden today from one bed to the next and the images and words are what flowed when my fountain provided the right softness to the night. The stillness of nature is a comfort.

Friday is the day for Poetry Friends to converse in verse so head over to the Poetry Friday Round-up that can be found at JoAnn Early Macken at Teaching Authors.

The image poems in tanka format above are part of my #poetrylisciouspoetry collection for National Poetry Month 2017.

Celebrate This Week

#PeopleSkills Member

2018 Kidlithosphere Progressive Poem

2016 Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem Team Writer

POETRY FRIDAY ROUNDUP-May 2018

About Me

Carol Varsalona, ELA consultant, has had extensive experience as a director of language arts, a literacy specialist/reading teacher, national/state conference presenter, and a staff developer in multiple Long Island districts and BOCES. In addition, she is a blogger, writer, co-moderator of NYEDChat, a professional learning network (PLN) on Twitter where she communicates with various state PLNs and global educational leaders, and recently appointed Wonder Lead Ambassador for Wonderopolis. She has a Professional Diploma in School District Administration, a CAS in Reading, MS in Developmental Reading, and BA in English Education. Varsalona is a lifelong learner dedicated to energizing and impacting K-12 teaching and literacy learning through the development of thinking skills, integrated technologies, writer’s voice, and professional development opportunities. She is ardent about inviting vigor and engagement into education to redesign the literacy landscape

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